well fought; and when the poll closed, R. P. Milnes was only nine a head of his opponent. He and Viscount Pollington were returned. Thus terminated the arduous struggle; and the Hon. J. Smyth, who by his persevering exertions had secured to the inhabitants their rights, after having been in parliament twenty. three years as their representative, found himself the unsuccessful candidate. This event did not arise from want of attachment in his friends, but from circumstances which no prudence could avoid, nor any influence counteract. In the course of twenty years a new race had sprung up; many strangers had come to reside in the borough; and it is natural to suppose that these would not feel all the respect for the old rerepresentative which his tried friends might wish. In short these being wholly indifferent to past transactions, were ready to give their votes as their connections, prejudices, or expectations might influence. The friends of this gentleman have testified the highest respect for his past services; and so long as fair freedom is esteemed the EngJishman's birth-right, so long as the elective franchise, shall be deemed a privilege; so long will the name of Smyth be associated with freedom in the borough of Pontefract. The following is a list of the Members returned for Pontefract. 16th JAMES I. 1620, George Skillet,-Edmunds Sands, Jun. 21st JAMES I. 1624, Sir Tho. Wentworth,-Sir John Jackson. 1st CHARLES I. 1625, Sir John Jackson,-Sir Rich. Beaumont, 1st CHARLES I. 26, Sir John Jackson,-Francis Foljambe.. 3rd CHARLES I. 29, Sir John Jackson,-Sir John Ramsden. 15th CHARLES I. 40, Sir John Ramsden,-Sir G. Wentworth, 16th CHARLES 1. 41, Sir George Wentworth, (Wolley)—Sir G. Wentworth, (of Wentworth House,) - 46, Henry Arthington, William White. 11th CHARLES II. 58, John Lord Lambert,-John Hewley *, 60, Sir Geo. Saville,-William Lowther, 61, Sir John Dawney, William Lowther, 78, Sir John Dawney,-Sir Patientius Ward, 81, Sir John Dawney, Sir Patientius Ward, 85, Lord Downe,-Sir Thomas Yarborough, : 88, Lord Downe,-Sir Thomas Yarborough, 90, Sir John Bland,Henry Downe, 95, Sir William Lowther,-Robert Moncton, 98, John Bright, Sir John Bland, 1701, William Lowther,-Sir John Bland, 2, William Lowther,Sir John Bland, 5, William Lowther, Sir John Bland, 8, William Lowther,-Sir John Bland, 10, Robert Frank,-Sir John Bland, 13, Robert Frank,-John Dawney, 14, Hugh Bethel,-Sir Willlam Lowther, 22, John Lowther, Sir William Lowther, 27, John Lowther,-Sir William Lowther, 34, Lord Gallway,-Sir William Lowther. *The above list is taken from Willis's Notitia Parlia❤ mentaria. 1741, Lord Gallway,-George Pitt, 47, William Moncton,-George Pitt, 54, Lord Gallway, Sambroke Trueman, 61, Lord Gallway,-Wm. Gerard Hamilton*, 68, Lord Gallway,-Henry Strachey, 74, Sir John Goodrick,-C. Mellish, 80, Lord Gallway, William Needham, 84, J. Smyth,-Colonel Sotheron, 90, J. Smyth,-Colonel Sotheron, 96, J. Smyth,-Lord Gallway. 1802, J. Smyth,---R. Benyon, 6, J. Smyth,---R. P. Milnes, RELIGIOUS SECTS. Within this town there are the ususal and prevailing denominations of professing christians, ---Catholics, Dissenters, Wesleyan Methodists, and a society of friends, commonly called Quakers. Catholics. Several ancient famlies, respectable for their property in this neighbourhood, maintained an unshaken attachment to the catholic cause, tho' exposed to all the rigour of the penal statutes; and when the lenient and tolerent spirit of the age, outrun that of the law, the Catholics emerged from their obscurity, and assembled to worship according to their own modes and opinions. They ventured publicly to address the Virgin * From the restoration the list is taken from Wentworth; and the remainder from the journals. Mother, and to revere the hallowed relics of past ages; to offer the sacrifice of the mass, and again to celebrate their holy mysteries Their number in. this place has never ‚exceeded thirty or forty persons. Their place of worship, till lately, was a room in the house Occupied by their teacher. They have now erected a place of worship on a more enlarged scale; and adapted to all the peculiar ceremonies of their worshipt. The building is a neat structure, and its interior well finished. Protestant Nonconformist Dissenters. The rise of the Dissenters, as a distinct body, dates from the time when the Act of Uniformity was passed. A considerable number of the clergy, who then filled the churches, were either Presbyterians or Independents; and were thus denominated from their opinions respecting the nature of a christian church, and the mode of its government. The former of these maintained, that in the New Testament the terms bishop, elder, or presbyter are applied to the same person, and that there is no proof of a bishop enjoying any superior sanctity or * in the year 1791, an act was passed to repeal the penal laws against this body, and to allow the general privileges of other sects, on taking certain prescibed oaths: + The ground on which this building has been erected is in old deeds, called Halywalls. As in the times of the Saxons, lands were often held of the church, on the condition of the tenant keeping the church in repair &c. is it not probable, that this land was held by such a tenure? That the proprietor was bound to keep in repair the holy walls, i. e. the church It was either held by such tenure, or otherwise it has been the site of some religious house. authority over the presbyter, while the church continued separate from the state. They contended, that there ought to be no difference of rank among the clergy; and that the church ought, according to scripture and the purest ages, to be governed by provincial synods and a general assembly. The Independents agreed with the Presbyterians on all subjects, except the last. They maintained that each christian society had a right to choose its own minister, and to regulate its interior affairs, unawed by any superior influence, and without being amenable to any earthly tribunal. those On passing the Act of Uniformity, who held these opinions could not in conscience comply with the provisions of the act; and were therefore compelled either to make a false declaration, or finally to leave the establishment. They chose the latter, and on the 24th of August, 1662. two thousand clergymen quitted their livings, and voluntarily submitted to poverty, disgrace and persecution, rather than subscribe to declarations they did not believe. No other age, no other country, ever witnessed This bill was hastely brought into the house, and obsequious as the parliaments of Charles were, it met with such violent opposition, that every exertion of the crown, and all the direct and indirect influence which could be used, was found necessary in order to get it through the House of Commons. At last this act passed in the House of Commons, by a majority of only six, the yeas being 186, and the noes 180. The reader who wishes to know how far the object of this act has been attained, may consult Archdeacon Blackburne's Confessional; Overton's « True Churchman ascertained,” and the publications to which this work has given rise within these few years past. |